Top 50 UGA Players of All Time - No. 42 - Theron Sapp
Dawg Post is counting down the Top 50 UGA players of all time through the summer. Keep checking back eat weekday to see who we have next…
No. 42 - Theron Sapp, RB from Macon
Only four numbers are retired at the University of Georgia.
Theron Sapp’s number 40 is one of them.
The Macon, Georgia native and pride of Lanier High School was Georgia’s star fullback in the late 50s, giving the Bulldogs two outstanding seasons in 1957 and 1958, earning All-American honors in both seasons.
What Sapp is most known for however, is his performance against Georgia Tech in 1957. The Bulldogs had lost to their arch-rivals for the last 8 seasons, and Georgia fans were at their breaking point. Sapp, now known as the “Drought Breaker”, ripped the Jacket’s hearts out on a late goal-line touchdown for the game’s only score. The Bulldogs won 7-0 on that cold November day, making Sapp was an instant Georgia legend.
He might not have lit up the state sheet during his time in Athens, but that lone touchdown against Georgia Tech was all he needed to cement his legacy in Georgia football history. His jersey was retired shortly after the 1958 season, where the Bulldogs beat the Jackets for a second straight year.
Sapp finished his career at Georgia with 1,265 rushing yards and six touchdowns. More importantly, Sapp beat Georgia Tech in his final two seasons, while breaking an 8-game losing streak. Beating Georgia Tech is an expectation now, but it wasn’t like that at all in the 50s. Beating Georgia Tech was so important the program retired someone’s jersey for it. That’s how deep the rivalry goes. They say the biggest players make the biggest plays in the biggest moments. That’s exactly what Sapp did for the Bulldogs in ’57 and ’58.
Sapp was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 10th round of the 1958 NFL Draft, where he played running backs until the 1963 season where he played with the Steelers until 1965. During Sapp’s NFL career, he rushed for 763 yards and 5 touchdowns.